Interactive content for click-to-call calls

ABSTRACT

In a click-to-call (C2C) communication environment, a web client of a computing terminal is configured to initiate a C2C call when a user selects a call tag provided in a web page being presented to the user. The call is intended to be established between a remote endpoint associated with the call tag and one of either the computing terminal or another terminal associated with the user. If the C2C call is directed to an automated system and placed in a queue or on hold, the present invention allows supplemental content intended for the user to be delivered to the web client from which the C2C call was initiated. The web client may present the supplemental content to the user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to telecommunications, and in particularto providing supplemental content to a user after the user initiates aclick-to-call call.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the Internet and associated web services evolve, there is a movementto associate telephony calls with certain web applications. Inclick-to-call (C2C) scenarios, a call tag used to initiate a telephonycall may be provided in a web page, which is supported by a web client,such as a browser, of the user's terminal. When a user selects the calltag, the web client may initiate the call by sending appropriateinstructions to the web server. The web server may then instruct a callserver to establish the call between the user terminal and a remoteendpoint or between another terminal associated with the user and theremote endpoint. Whether the telephony call is established with theuser's terminal providing the web client or another terminal associatedwith the user may be controlled by the user.

In many C2C call scenarios, the call tags provided in the web pages areassociated with commercial entities, and as such, the calls initiatedupon selecting the call tags are directed to these commercial entities.A large percentage of commercial entities employ automated attendantsystems, which automatically answer and process incoming calls. In manyinstances, the automated attendant systems are used to route the callsto automated or human agents. If such agents are not immediatelyavailable when calls are answered, the calls are placed into a queue.The queued calls are routed to the appropriate agents as the agentsbecome available.

The amount of time a caller remains in a queue, and thus has to wait foran agent, is often significant. Although the commercial entity hasdirect and valuable access to the caller during the caller's wait, theability to provide useful information, advertising information,entertainment, or a combination thereof has proven to be quite limited.All of this information is generally provided over the voice connectionthat was established for the call. In many instances, the sameaudio-based information or entertainment loop is provided to all callersthat are in the queue. Other callers may simply receive an audiblemessage that provides an estimate of the remaining wait time. Theability to provide different information to different callers or toprovide a broader spectrum of information to the callers is limited. Theability to provide information in a format other than an audible formatis even further limited. In addition, while the caller is waiting on thephone for a free human agent, the commercial entity is typically payingfor the telecommunication charges, incurring significant cost.

Accordingly, there is a need for a way to provide more appropriateuseful information, advertising information, entertainment, or acombination thereof to callers when they are in a queue waiting for anagent. There is a need to provide information of different types and indifferent formats to the callers. There is further need to provide suchinformation in a C2C call environment in an efficient and effectivemanner. There is also a need to provide an option to place a C2C callrequest in the queue waiting for an agent and delay the setup of thephone call until such time as there is a human agent available to talkto the caller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a click-to-call (C2C) communication environment, a web client of acomputing terminal is configured to initiate a C2C call when a userselects a call tag provided in a web page being presented to the user.The call is intended to be established between a remote endpointassociated with the call tag and one of either the computing terminal oranother terminal associated with the user. If the C2C call is directedto an automated system and placed in a queue or on hold, the presentinvention allows supplemental content intended for the user to bedelivered to the web client from which the C2C call was initiated. Theweb client may present the supplemental content to the user.

In one embodiment, the call is first established between the respectiveendpoints prior to being placed in the queue. In another embodiment, thecall is placed in the queue and not established until it is removed fromthe queue or shortly before being removed from the queue. Regardless ofwhen the call is actually established between the respective endpoints,the supplemental content may be provided to the user while the callresides in the queue.

The supplemental content may be of various types and may be in anyformat, including formats other than audio formats. For example, text,graphic, and video content may be provided to the web client. Thesupplemental content may be useful information, advertising information,entertainment, or a combination thereof. Further, the supplementalcontent may correspond to interactive content, such as gaming content orinformation interactively controlled by the caller via the web client.The supplemental content may be provided to the caller at any time whilethe call remains in the queue. In certain embodiments, furthersupplemental content may be provided after the call is taken out of thequeue and routed to an appropriate automated or human agent.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the presentinvention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiments inassociation with the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part ofthis specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a block representation of a communication environmentaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a web page including a click-to-call tag displayed ona browser.

FIG. 3 illustrates a pop-up window provided upon selecting theclick-to-call tag provided in the web page illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates a pop-up window including supplemental contentprovided according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a pop-up window including supplemental contentprovided according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of a computingterminal according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A-7C are a communication flow diagram illustrating exemplaryoperation of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block representation of a service node according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block representation of a computing terminal according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block representation of a web server according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustratethe best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the followingdescription in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilledin the art will understand the concepts of the invention and willrecognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressedherein. It should be understood that these concepts and applicationsfall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.

In a click-to-call (C2C) communication environment, a web client of acomputing terminal is configured to initiate a C2C call when a userselects a call tag provided in a web page being presented to the user.The call is intended to be established between a remote endpointassociated with the call tag and one of either the computing terminal oranother terminal associated with the user. If the C2C call is directedto an automated system and placed in a queue or on hold, the presentinvention allows supplemental content intended for the user to bedelivered to the web client from which the C2C call was initiated. Theweb client may present the supplemental content to the user.

In one embodiment, the call is first established between the respectiveendpoints prior to being placed in the queue. In another embodiment, thecall is placed in the queue and not established until is it removed fromthe queue or shortly before being removed from the queue. Regardless ofwhen the call is actually established between the respective endpoints,the supplemental content may be provided to the user while the callresides in the queue.

The supplemental content may be of various types and may be in anyformat, including formats other than audio formats. For example, text,graphic, and video content may be provided to the web client. Thesupplemental content may be useful information, advertising information,entertainment, or a combination thereof. Further, the supplementalcontent may correspond to interactive content, such as gaming content orinformation interactively controlled by the caller via the web client.The supplemental content may be provided to the caller at any time whilethe call remains in the queue. In certain embodiments, furthersupplemental content may be provided after the call is taken out of thequeue and routed to an appropriate automated or human agent. In certainembodiments, further supplemental content may be provided based oninformation that identifies the caller. Prior to delving into furtherdetails of the present invention, an overview of a communicationenvironment in which the present invention may be employed is provided.

FIG. 1 depicts a communication environment 10 that supports C2Cfunctionality according to one embodiment of the present invention. Auser (User 1) is associated with a computing terminal 12, which providesa browser 14 and an optional communication client 14′. The browser 14provides standard browsing functionality and either includes or isconfigured to cooperate with the communication client 14′. Thecommunication client 14′ is configured to support telephonycommunications at the computing terminal 12.

Via the browser 14, the computing terminal 12 communicates with a webserver 16 over the Internet 18 or like communication network. Toinitiate a C2C call, the browser 14 of the computing terminal 12 sendsto the web server 16 a request to initiate a call between two or moreendpoints, where one of the endpoints is associated with the user, suchas the computing terminal 12 in FIG. 1. The request will generallyidentify a source and a destination corresponding to the respectiveendpoints for the call. The request is then sent to a service node 20,which will select an appropriate call server 22 to use for establishingthe call between the two endpoints. Once the call server 22 is selected,instructions are sent to the call server 22 to initiate the call. Inresponse, the call server 22 will initiate the call between the twoendpoints. Alternatively, the computing terminal 12 may send the requestdirectly to the service node 20 to avoid passing the request through theweb server 16. The call server 22 may provide third party call controlto initiate calls to both endpoints, wherein a bearer path isestablished between the endpoints if the user and a remote party answerthe respective calls.

As illustrated, the available endpoints include a first terminal 24,second terminals 26, and third terminals 28. The first terminal 24 isassociated with User 1 and may be considered a source for the call, eventhough the call is not originated from the first terminal 24 in atraditional fashion. The second and third terminals 26, 28 are remoteendpoints associated with destinations with which User 1 wants tocommunicate. In the illustrated example, assume that the second andthird terminals 26, 28 are associated with one or more call centerswhere numerous agents are made available to handle calls from any numberof users. Also for the illustrated example, assume the first terminal 24is associated with directory number DN1 while the second and thirdterminals 26, 28 are associated with a call center, Global Call Center,having main telephony addresses of globalcallcenter@xyz.com or1-800-XYZ-CORP. The individual terminals of the second and thirdterminals 26, 28 may have individual addresses or directory numbers. Inparticular, one second terminal 26 is shown as being associated with adirectory number DN2, and one third terminal 28 is shown as beingassociated with a uniform resource locator (URL) agent5@xyz.com.

As an exemplary embodiment, only the first and second terminals 24, 26are depicted as being supported by the public switched telephone network(PSTN) 30, which may represent any type of wired or wireless networksupporting circuit-switched communications. The third terminals 28 aredepicted as being supported by a voice-over-packet (VoP) network 32,such as the Internet or like packet-based network, which supportspacket-based communications. The PSTN 30 and the VoP network 32 areconsidered to include any necessary access networks as well as have theappropriate interworking infrastructure to support communicationstherebetween.

In many call center environments, incoming calls are directed to a maintelephony address, such as a directory number or URL, and placed in aqueue provided and managed by a queue manager 36. Those skilled in theart will recognize that the queue manager 36 may be placed in variouslocations other than that depicted. As depicted, the queue manager 36 isconfigured to cooperate with the call server 22 to receive calls, placecalls in a queue, and direct calls to an available one of the second orthird terminals 26, 28. For the present invention, the bearer paths forthe calls may be established at different times depending on the desiresof the service provider and the call center manager. In one embodiment,when the call is received by the call center, a bearer path isestablished to the call center. When an agent is available, the call istransferred to the terminal associated with the agent. In anotherembodiment, the bearer path to the call center is not established untilor near the time at which the agent becomes available. Thus,establishment of the bearer path is delayed until a bearer path isactually needed to connect the user to an agent in order to conservenetwork and call center resources. An example is provided further below.

Also illustrated in FIG. 1 are numerous content servers 34, which may beweb servers capable of delivering various types of supplemental contentto the browser 14 of computing terminal 12. If the C2C call is placed ina queue, the present invention allows select supplemental content to bedelivered to the browser 14, or other web client, from which the C2Ccall was initiated. The browser 14 may then present the supplementalcontent to the user at any time while the call remains in the queue oreven after the call is removed from the queue and transferred to anagent. Although different types of supplemental content are illustratedas being provided by respective content servers 34, any given contentserver 34 may be configured to provide different types of supplementalcontent. Further, supplemental content may be provided by any entity,such as the queue manager 36, service node 20, call server 22, and thelike. An example illustrating use of the content servers 34 and thequeue manager 36 to deliver supplemental content is provided furtherbelow.

C2C calls are often triggered by a user selecting a call tag in asoftware entity provided by the computing terminal 12. When the call tagis selected, the call indicia associated with the call tag is processedto control initiation of the telephony call for the computing terminal12. The call tag may be an icon, string, link, or any other element thatis selectable by the user and associated with call indicia forestablishing a call with a given destination. The call indicia may be adirectory number or telephony address associated with the destination.The computing terminal 12 may obtain user indicia from the user toassist in determining how or where the call should be initiated. Basedon the call indicia and any available user indicia, a request toinitiate the call is sent to the web server 16, which will send acorresponding request to the service node 20.

The software entity may be any type of electronic document, such as aweb page, instant message, email, word processing document, orspreadsheet. The communication client 14′ may be co-resident with anapplication supporting the electronic document, or part of anapplication having a call tag. The application supporting the electronicdocument or a supporting operating system may be configured to recognizea request in response to selecting a call tag. Alternatively, anotherapplication may be configured to automatically detect and process thecall indicia in response to a user selecting a call tag.

With reference to FIG. 2, a browser interface is illustrated from a userperspective, where a call tag is selected. In this example, a browserinterface 38 provided by the browser 14 is capable of receiving anddisplaying a web page 40 on the computing terminal 12. Embedded in theweb page 38 is a C2C tag 42. The C2C tag 42 is provided in the web page40 to allow the user to simply click or otherwise select the C2C tag 42and establish a call with a remote endpoint, such as the second or thirdterminals 26, 28 directly or via an associated call handling service,using associated call indicia. When the C2C tag 42 is selected by theuser, the computing terminal 12 may query the user for user indicia toassist in establishing the call with the remote endpoint.

As illustrated, the web page 40 may include a variety of content,including original content 44 and advertising 46. The original content44 and the advertising 46 may have C2C tags 42 associated therewith.Further, the original content 44 may be search results provided by theweb server 16 in response to a search query or content associated with agiven URL.

With reference to FIG. 3, the computing terminal 12 may provide a pop-upwindow 48 in response to determining that the C2C tag 42 was selected.The pop-up window 48 may identify the remote endpoint by name or bytelephony address in a general or specific fashion. In this example, theremote endpoint represents a general network address(globalcallcenter@xyz.com) or directory number (1-800-XYZ-CORP) for aglobal call center. The type of communication address may correspond toa directory number, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address, apeer-to-peer address, or a URL. The second and third terminals 26, 28may be associated with the global call center and may represent specificendpoints associated with the general, remote endpoint.

The pop-up window 48 may also allow the user to select a direct orindirect method for establishing the call, and if indirect, anotherendpoint to use for the call. As illustrated, the user is provided witha choice to initiate the call from an associated mobile terminalassociated with directory number DN0; the first terminal (office) 24associated with directory number DN1; a PC associated with the addressuser1@isp.com; or the computing terminal 12. Assume that the firstterminal 24 is selected to use for the call, as indicated by thehighlighting. Selecting the mobile, office, or PC terminals would resultin an indirect establishment of a call from the selected endpoint to theremote endpoint, whereas selection of the computing terminal 12 wouldresult in a direct initiation of a call from the computing terminal 12using an integrated communication client 14′.

The pop-up window 48 is configured to allow the user to readily provideany user indicia to assist with initiating the call. The user indiciamay take various forms including source information and contextinformation. The source information corresponds to the particularendpoint of the user to use when establishing the call, while thecontext information provides information bearing on a context associatedwith the call. The context information may vary significantly from oneapplication to another. As illustrated, the context information mayidentify a preferred language to associate with the call, whether thecall is private, and the type of call being established. The type ofcall may identify the call as a personal, business, commercial, supportcall, or the like. When the user selects “OK,” any appropriate source,destination, and context information is sent to the web server 16 inassociation with a request to initiate a call.

Once a C2C call is initiated and placed on hold for some reason, selectsupplemental content may be provided directly to the computing terminal12 and presented to the user. In one embodiment, the supplementalcontent is provided to the computing terminal 12 over the Internet 18and outside of any bearer path associated with the C2C call. As such,the supplemental content may be readily presented to the user via thebrowser 14 and associated media applications. Any one or combination ofthe browser 14 and the associated media applications is referred tocollectively as a web client, and may be used to present various typesof media to the user. In one embodiment, the supplemental content ispresented to the user via the browser 14 as part of a web page. Notably,the supplemental content may be provided in a modified web page 40, asillustrated in FIG. 4, or in a modified pop-up window 48, as illustratedin FIG. 5. The supplemental content is referenced as supplementalcontent 50 to distinguish it from the previously presented originalcontent. The supplemental content 50 may be dynamically updated andpresented to the user. Further, the supplemental content 50 may includeinteractive content, such as gaming content, which may run on thecomputing terminal 12 or require interaction between the computingterminal 12 and a remote entity, such as one of the content servers 34.

With reference to FIG. 6, a flow diagram is provided to illustrateinitiating of a C2C call according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. The process begins (step 100) wherein the computing terminal12 detects the presence or activation of a software entity, such as theweb page 40 having a call tag 42 (step 102). The computing terminal 12will then detect when the call tag 42 associated with the softwareentity is selected (step 104). The call indicia associated with the calltag 42 is accessed (step 106), and if desired, a pop-up window 48 orlike message is provided to the user (step 108). The pop-up window 48provides a vehicle for receiving user indicia associated with selectingthe call tag 42; however, other vehicles are available, such as anotherfunction or application. The computing terminal 12 may retrieve any userindicia in an automatic fashion, if predefined rules are established, orthrough an appropriate user response (step 110).

The computing terminal 12 may then send a request with any necessarycall indicia and user indicia, including source, destination, and anyavailable context information, to the web server 16 for delivery to theservice node 20, or directly to the service node 20 (step 112). Theservice node 20 may then initiate establishment of a call between one ofthe user's endpoints associated with the source information and a remoteendpoint associated with the destination information based on the callindicia in light of any pertinent user indicia. For indirect callinitiation, the computing terminal 12 is generally not involved in thecall once the call is established; however, the computing terminal 12will be able to receive the supplemental content 50 associated with thecall. For direct call initiation, the computing terminal 12 willoriginate the call to the remote endpoint.

Turning now to FIGS. 7A-7C, a communication flow is provided toillustrate exemplary operation of one embodiment of the presentinvention. Initially, the browser 14 will receive and display a web pagewith a C2C tag 42 (step 200). When the user selects the C2C tag 42, thebrowser 14 may send to the web server 16 a hypertext transfer protocol(HTTP) GET message to obtain the content of the URL associated with aC2C web page (step 202). Based on the URL, the web server 16 will send a200 OK message back to the browser 14 with the requested C2C web page 40(step 204). The browser 14 will then display the C2C web page 40 to theuser, perhaps in the form of a pop-up window 48 (step 206). If the userelects to initiate a call, any necessary user information is retrievedautomatically or from the user, and the browser 14 will send a messageback to the web server 16 to execute a C2C function (step 208). In thisexample, the message includes source information having the directorynumber DN1 as the source address, which is associated with the firstterminal 24. The message sent to the web server 16 may also identify aspecific or general destination for the call as well as any contextinformation. In this case, a general destination is provided and isrepresented by globalcallcenter@xyz.com. The context informationindicates that an English-speaking representative is requested. The webserver 16 will recognize that a C2C call has been requested and willsend an Initiate Call message to the service node 20 (step 210). TheInitiate Call message will indicate that the call should be from asource address (DN1) to a general destination(globalcallcenter@xyz.com). The Initiate Call message may also providethe context information, which in this case indicates that the call canor should be sent to a destination where English is spoken.

In response to receiving the Initiate Call message from the browser 14,the service node 20 may send a query to the queue manager 36 todetermine an estimated amount of time that the call will be queued, andthus effectively placed on hold, until an English-speaking agent isavailable (step 212). The queue manager 36 will determine the wait timefor an English-speaking agent, and send appropriate queue informationidentifying the estimated wait time for the call to be answered back tothe service node 20 (step 214). In this instance, assume the estimatedwaiting time is 5 minutes. The estimated waiting time provided by thequeue manager 36 is considered supplemental content 50, and will beprovided to the browser 14 or other application running on the computingterminal 12. As such, the service node 20 will provide instructions toplace the call associated with directory number DN1 in the queue to thequeue manager 36 (step 216), which will place the call in the queue. Inthis example, the bearer path for the call will not be established untilan agent becomes available, as will become apparent below.

The service node 20 will process the supplemental content, which bearson the waiting time until an agent becomes available, and will send thesupplemental content as queue information to the web server 16 (step218). The web server 16 will present the queue information as content tobe displayed via the browser 14 to the computing terminal 12 (step 220).The browser 14 may process the content and display the estimated waittime to the user (step 222). As such, supplemental content 50 wasprovided by the queue manager 36 to the computing terminal 12 forpresentation to the user, outside of the bearer path for the call, whichhas yet to be established.

Next, assume the service node 20 is configured to present additionalsupplemental content in the form of an advertisement to the computingterminal 12 for presentation to the user. In this example, the servicenode 20 will identify an advertisement, advertisement #23, to present tothe user and will forward instructions to the web server 16 (step 224).The web server 16 will in turn instruct the browser 14 to fetch theadvertisement from an appropriate content server 34 (step 226). Theinstructions provided to the browser 14 via the web server 16 mayinclude a URL identifying the location of the advertisement at thecontent server 34. As such, the browser 14 may send a message to thecontent server 34 to fetch advertisement #23 (step 228). In response,the content server 34 will deliver advertisement #23 to the computingterminal 12 for presentation to the user (step 230). In one embodiment,the advertisement is presented to the user via the browser 14. Theadvertisement may represent relatively static graphic content, orstreaming audio or video, which represents the advertising content.Accordingly, the browser 14 will present or begin presentingadvertisement #23 to the user (step 232).

In the meantime, the service node 20 may periodically send a query tothe queue manager 36 for the call associated with directory number DN1(step 234). The queue manager 36 will respond to the query by providingan updated estimate for the remaining wait time until an agent isavailable in a queue information message to the service node 20 (step236). In this instance, the estimated waiting time is approximately 2minutes. The service node 20 will send the queue information to the webserver 16 (step 238), which will deliver content indicating that theestimated wait time is 2 minutes to the computing terminal 12 (step 240)for presentation to the user (step 242).

Although supplemental content 50 in the form of an estimated wait timeand an advertisement has been presented to the computing terminal 12outside of the bearer path associated with the call, additionalsupplemental content 50 may be provided as desired by the call center.In the illustrated communication flow, the service node 20 is furtherconfigured to effect delivery of video-on-hold message #45 to the userfor the remaining portion of the wait time. As such, the service node 20will send an instruction to the web server 16 to have the computingterminal 12 play video-on-hold message #45 (step 244). Upon receipt ofthese instructions, the web server 16 will provide instructions to thebrowser 14 to fetch video-on-hold message #45 using an appropriate URL,which was provided by the service node 20 (step 246). The browser 14will send a message to fetch video-on-hold message #45 to the contentserver 34 (step 248), which will respond by streaming video-on-holdmessage #45 to the browser 14 (step 250), for presentation to the user(step 252).

When the queue manager 36 determines that the wait time for the call isover and that a select agent, such as Agent 5, is available (step 254),a corresponding message may be sent to the service node 20 (step 256).The message may include call information indicating that the call isready to be presented to Agent 5, and as such, the service node 20 maysend the call information to the web server 16 (step 258). The webserver 16 may generate appropriate content indicating that the call isbeing established to the computing terminal 12 (step 260), which willdisplay the call information to the user (step 262).

Meanwhile, the queue manager 36 will take the necessary steps toinitiate the call associated with DN1 to Agent 5. This initiation willgenerally include the queue manager 36 sending an instruction toinitiate the call to the call server 22 (step 264). The third party callcontrol messaging is significantly abbreviated merely to illustrate theconcepts of initiating the respective legs of the call and establishinga voice path between the respective endpoints. As such, assume the callserver 22 effectively sends an Alert toward the first terminal 24 (step266), which when answered will send an Answer message back to the callserver 22 (step 268). Similarly, the call server 22 will effectivelysend an Alert toward the third terminal 28 (step 270), which whenanswered will send an Answer message back to the call server 22 (step272). Once both parties have answered, a bearer path is establishedbetween the first terminal 24 and the third terminal 28 (step 274).

At this point, the call server 22 may initiate delivery of supplementalcontent in the form of call information to the computing terminal 12. Inparticular, the call information indicating the call has beenestablished is sent to the queue manager 36 (step 276), which forwardsthe call information to the service node 20 (step 278). The service node20 will send the call information to the web server 16 (step 280), whichwill generate the appropriate content to provide to the computerterminal 12 to indicate that the call is established (step 282). Asillustrated, the content is a message stating “You are now connected,”and such call information is displayed to the user (step 284). Again,supplemental content is presented to the user in various forms and fromdifferent entities in association with a call being placed on hold. Thesupplemental content is not communicated over the bearer path for thecall, and may be provided before, during, or after establishment of thebearer path.

With reference to FIG. 8, a block diagram of a service node 20 isillustrated. The service node 20 may include a control system 54 withsufficient memory 56 for the requisite software 58 and data 60 tooperate as described above. One or more communication interfaces 62 maybe provided to facilitate communication with various entities, includingthe computing terminal 12, web server 16, content servers 34, callservers 22, and the like.

With reference to FIG. 9, a block representation of a computing terminal12 is illustrated. The computing terminal 12 may include a controlsystem 64 with sufficient memory 66 for the requisite software 68 anddata 70 to operate as described above. The software 68 may supportvarious applications supporting various electronic documents, whereincertain of the applications or electronic documents may represent asoftware entity. The software 68 may also support all or a portion ofthe communication client 14′ as well as the browser 14, which may alsobe a software entity. The control system 64 may also be associated withany number of communication interfaces 72, to facilitate communicationswith any variety of networks, including the Internet 18, VoP network 32,and the PSTN 30. The control system 64 may include a user interface 74to obtain information from the user and deliver information to the useras well as support voice-based telephony calls, if so desired.

With reference to FIG. 10, a block representation of a web server 16 isillustrated. The web server 16 may include a control system 76 withsufficient memory 78 for the requisite software 80 and data 82 tooperate as described above. One or more communication interfaces 84 maybe provided to facilitate communication with various entities, includingthe computing terminal 12, service node 20, content servers 34, callservers 22, and the like.

Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modificationsto the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All suchimprovements and modifications are considered within the scope of theconcepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.

1. A method for facilitating delivery of content to a user inassociation with a click-to-call call comprising: receiving a request toinitiate a click-to-call call with a remote endpoint, the click-to-callinitially triggered by a user at a user terminal; sending instructionsto initiate the click-to-call call with the remote endpoint; and whenthe click-to-call call is held, effecting delivery outside of a bearerpath for the click-to-call call of supplemental content to the userterminal for presentation to the user.
 2. The method of claim 1 whereinthe click-to-call call is initially triggered by the user via a webbrowser running on the user terminal, and the supplemental content isdelivered to the web browser for presentation to the user.
 3. The methodof claim 1 wherein the click-to-call call is initially triggered by theuser selecting a call tag provided in a web page presented to the uservia a web browser of the user terminal.
 4. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising receiving hold information related to an amount of time theclick-to-call call will be held, wherein the supplemental contentcomprises content bearing on the hold information.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein effecting delivery of the supplemental contentcomprises: identifying the supplemental content; and effecting deliveryof access information to the user terminal, the access information usedby the user terminal to obtain the supplemental content.
 6. The methodof claim 5 wherein the access information comprises an addresscorresponding to a location on a content server where the supplementalcontent is stored.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the supplementalcontent is advertising information.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein thesupplemental content is selected based on information identifying theuser.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the supplemental content isstreaming media.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the supplementalcontent is interactive content.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein thesupplemental content is call progress information.
 12. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the click-to-call call is held when the establishment ofthe bearer path for the click-to-call call is delayed.
 13. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the click-to-call call is held when the bearer path forthe click-to-call call is established and then placed on hold.
 14. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising effecting delivery of furthersupplemental content after the click-to-call call is no longer held. 15.The method of claim 1 wherein the click-to-call call is held when placedin a queue.
 16. The method of claim 1 wherein the click-to-call call isestablished between the remote endpoint and a first endpoint other thanthe user terminal and associated with the user.
 17. The method of claim1 wherein the click-to-call call is established between the remoteendpoint and the user terminal.
 18. The method of claim 1 wherein theinstructions to initiate the click-to-call call are sent toward a callcontrol node.
 19. A system for facilitating delivery of content to auser in association with a click-to-call call comprising: at least onecommunication interface; and a control system associated with the atleast one communication interface and adapted to: receive a request toinitiate a click-to-call call with a remote endpoint, the click-to-callcall initially triggered by a user at a user terminal; send instructionsto initiate the click-to-call call with the remote endpoint; and whenthe click-to-call call is held, effect delivery outside of a bearer pathfor the click-to-call call of supplemental content to the user terminalfor presentation to the user.
 20. The system of claim 19 wherein theclick-to-call call is initially triggered by the user via a web browserrunning on the user terminal, and the supplemental content is deliveredto the web browser for presentation to the user.
 21. The system of claim19 wherein the control system is further adapted to receive holdinformation related to an amount of time the click-to-call call will beheld, wherein the supplemental content comprises content bearing on thehold information.
 22. The system of claim 19 wherein to effect deliveryof the supplemental content, the control system is adapted to: identifythe supplemental content; and effect delivery of access information tothe user terminal, the access information used by the user terminal toobtain the supplemental content.
 23. The system of claim 22 wherein theaccess information comprises an address corresponding to a location on acontent server where the supplemental content is stored.
 24. A networkfor facilitating delivery of content to a user in association with aclick-to-call call comprising: means for receiving a request to initiatea click-to-call call with a remote endpoint, the click-to-call initiallytriggered by a user at a user terminal; means for sending instructionsto initiate the click-to-call call with the remote endpoint; and whenthe click-to-call call is held, means for effecting delivery outside ofa bearer path for the click-to-call call of supplemental content to theuser terminal for presentation to the user.